Someone put a bag of white powder in my driveway! (1 Viewer)

[Ryan Wright]

No, I'm not kidding. Got home last night and there was a baggie full of white powder in my driveway. It was a little dark out and I didn't know exactly what it was, so I picked it up. It was windy and a bunch of powder came flying out... Oops.
Now, I'm not worried about anthrax. Not in the least. But this pissed me off - it was obviously someone's idea of a sick joke. So I called the police. They came out, looked it over and said, "It's probably just baking powder. Just throw it away." What the heck? The FBI comes on TV and says that anyone playing jokes like this will go directly to jail without passing GO or collecting $200, but the local cops in my town don't give a rat's ass.
Oh well.
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-Ryan (http://www.ryanwright.com )
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you do criticize them, you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

 

[Ron-P]

A guy my dad works with at Boeing here in Huntington Beach, CA. thought he'd play a joke on a co-worker of his and sprinkled some white powder on his friends desk. Well, his friend did not see it as a joke, the FBI came out and shut just about everything down.....oh yeah, this guy is busted.
I am surprised, in the light of all that is going on, that they just told you to throw it away.

How big was the bag?
Peace Out~

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http://home.earthlink.net/~peregrinefalcon

 

[Craig Chatterton]

Well, I can kinda understand the policeman's position on this. I feel the same way too - this has become the new "Bomb" scare. Everyone is afraid of Anthrax, except the statistics say you have more chance of being struck by lightening on a sunny day than you do of catching Anthrax. Yes, we should be observant, but not hysterical.
That being said I also understand why you were upset about their reaction too Ryan. They could have gotten fingerprints or something, maybe interviewed a few neighbors to see if anyone saw something.
Hey, remember that lady on the plane who thought her roll was full of Anthrax and it turned out to be flour? I'm a member of a mailing list and the moderator got someone to Email him an eyewitness account:
quote: QANTAS Flight 203 and the Breadroll of Doom
Just thought I'd fill you guys in on my rather eventful day today.
The day started off ok -- flew from Melbourne to Brisbane with no major dramas at all. The only problem was that three of the five screaming little whipper snappers I had earlier noticed in the gate lounge at Melbourne had been allocated the row of seats behind mine.
In hindsight, I probably should have taken a little more notice of this obviously bad omen....
Anyway, apart from the screaming, crying and the regular "sinking of the slipper" into the back of my seat with clocklike monotony, it really was not all that bad. Landed in beautiful Brissy and had a dream connection to my Mackay flight. The kids left the flight, the plane left on time, wow, this is going to be a good day.
Once we were on our way, the hosties decided to surprise us with some unbelievably ordinary food -- no, not just the normal servings of ordinariness, this time they had gone to some extra effort. There was the standard cheese and crackers, the piece of fruit 'n' nut chocolate, and then the centre piece, a delightfully soggy bread roll with an internal smearing of curried egg and capsicum. Nothing else, just curried egg and capsicum. Mmmm Mmmm! Hot Tip: These rolls are best served when made a few weeks before hand so the curried egg can thoroughly soak through the bread.
Now, in these turbulent times, and following the 17 suspected cases of Anthrax poisoning reported yesterday, you would think Qantas would be rather careful about what they are serving on their planes. Nope. The aforementioned culinary delight that was the soggy bread roll was not a plain roll, nor did it have those sesame seed thingys stuck to its top, oh no, lets give everyone on the aircraft a bread roll completely laced with flour! Great idea that. How about we put so much flour on it that it will actually fall off in a clump onto your plate so that some paranoid git behind you can start screaming hysterically about
anthrax poisoning!! Fantastic.
The hosties step in and calm the situation quite well. They quietly tell her (she actually was sitting right behind me -- in hindsight I'd have rathered those little whipper snappers any day!) that they have taken her meal back and will send it for analysis once we land in Mackay. They took her details and told her she would be contacted with
the results. Obviously if it really was anthrax, she would be the only one at risk of inhaling the stuff, what with the sealed aircraft environment and the recirculating air con....
Anyway, nothing more said until we land. It now seems that some ground official has cottoned on to the fact that if one person could be at risk, then, hang on while I do the maths ...um... carry the five... oh yeah!! The whole damned plane is at risk!! Quick shut the doors! Oh, and lets keep that air con running!!
Then the action starts. On my side of the plane I see a fire truck pull up. Then another one. Then what looks like every policeman Mackay has ever trained. Then a water tanker. Ahh, the Hazardous Materials Van is here! That should induce some panic! And what should emerge from the Haz. Van? Why, two blokes in full bio suits of course!! For
those that are familiar with the movie "2001", they looked just like "Dave" when suited up to venture outside Voyager in his space pod. For those not familiar with 2001, blokes in yellow plastic suits with a massive, fully enclosed perspex face mask which would fit over the head of a baby elephant. Color coded of course.
Now, what terrifies human beings even more than the fear of death via biological warfare I hear you ask? Why, it's taking a shower in all your good clothes of course!! Oh the horror!!!! Yes the bio suited guys have erected their little shower cubical and have connected up a massive 2 foot outlet from one of the fire trucks. And, wait, who's here now? Yes it's the local media. They've turned up to film "the cleansing of the roll flour from the passengers". Should make some great viewing, perhaps even a mini series.
Two and a half hours pass while being constantly updated that we "should be able to disembark in the next 15 minutes or so". (Let's just keep that air con. going though, just in case.) The bio suited dudes are so far the only people who have used the shower (after handling the highly toxic roll flour). The guys outside with the camera's are obviously getting bored waiting for us -- they start to
pack up their cameras.
Then, out of the blue, Mr Plodd bravely enters our flour infested chamber with some news, and he has with him, a doctor. The doc gets on the PA system and tells us that they have run all the tests that they are capable of in the Mackay hospital, and while they can not be 100% certain, it seems that the substance taken from the plane is, wait for it, an ordinary substance used in the preparation of the flight meals. He had even diagnosed us -- the entire plane. We have a phenomenon known in the medical world as "Excessive Vigilance". Well done champ. Unbelievable. It would have been quicker to scrape all the flour up off everyone's lap and whip up a batch of scones to prove the true identity of the substance!!
This is when in my opinion, the day's highlight occurred. Following such a long period of such intense waiting, there is bound to be an outpouring of emotion... Sighs of relief, cries of laughter, cheering, clapping, and of course, the absolute verbal barrage of abuse for the poor lady sitting behind me who had now sunk so low into her chair that she was now practically wearing her lifejacket. It seems that
another particular lady who had now well and truly missed her *#@!'ing flight to the Whitsundays had decided to give our friend a piece of her mind. The awkward silence that followed was priceless.
Anyway, before we all finally got off the plane they took everyone's details in case forensic testing at Brisbane's pathology centre turned anything else up. We got off the plane to a bit of a hero's welcome -- heaps of people, police and media interviews. I didn't quite get to my
destination from Mackay in time to see the local news, but apparently we were the headline story. All hail the paranoid chick from row 9.[/quote]
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Virgo: All Virgo's are extremely friendly and intelligent, except for you. Expect a big surprise today, when you wind up with your head impaled upon a stick.
[Edited last by Craig Chatterton on November 01, 2001 at 10:57 AM]

 

[Ryan Wright]

How big was the bag?

It was a ziplock baggie, sandwich sized, a little less than half full of powder. I told the 911 operator "I'm not worried about this, it's surely someone's idea of a sick joke, but I thought you might want to come collect the stuff anyway." I, too, figured they would fingerprint the thing, or do something...
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-Ryan (http://www.ryanwright.com )
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you do criticize them, you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

 

[Ron-P]

I see as no different than if you were to call in a fake bomb scare. The police should have done something that is there job.
Peace Out~

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http://home.earthlink.net/~peregrinefalcon
[Edited last by Ron-P on November 01, 2001 at 11:06 AM]

 

[Kevin Coleman]

Screw your local Police. I would call the FBI directly. Whoever did that needs to be punished.
Kevin C.

 

[DaveF]

Ryan -- What exactly are you doing to torment you neighborhood? You've got people running you off the road left and right. Someone else is threatening Anthrax against you. What are you hiding from us?

Bummer about your worthless police force. This is, what, the third time in just a few months they've shown their utter incompetence?
[Edited last by DaveF on November 01, 2001 at 11:45 AM]

 

[Larry Schneider]

Down here in Gawgia there was an incident with a 14-y.o. kid on a school bus who changed his stinky sneakers, apparently allowing some foot powder to get on the school bus floor...he's suspended, might get expelled, etc. The first casualty of war is common sense.

 

[MickeS]

Ryan, contact the local newspaper and tell them what you told us, I'm sure they'd do a little story on how serious the police seem to take this...
Maybe it was cocaine in the bag or something, seems like the police should have looked into it at least (even though I'm sure it was nothing but a bad joke).
/Mike

 

[Todd Hochard]

Ryan -- What exactly are you doing to torment you neighborhood? You've got people running you off the road left and right. Someone else is threatening Anthrax against you. What are you hiding from us?

I'm beginning to wonder the same thing.

Todd

 

[Michael*K]

Believe it or not, the latest dumbf*ck to pull off a prank like this was none other than an assistant state's attorney here! No shit...read the http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0111010161nov01.story
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--Mike
Amazon Hot 100 DVD's

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Remember the good ol' days when some people would be happy to find a baggie filled with white powder in the driveway?
This whole anthrax deal must be hell on coke dealers. Wonder how L.A. is handling it? Before October envelopes of white powder were probably showing up in studio mailrooms every day.
Regards

 

[Travis Hedger]

Saw on the news that they are intending on procecuting all of the offending hoaxers that they can find. If convicted it is a minimum of a 15 year to life prison sentence.
I have no sympathy for anyone that is too stupid to realize you dont play these kinds of "pranks"
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Travis -- "Contrary to popular belief, Travis Hedger, DID NOT infact invent DVD. He was just a very enthusiastic fan!!!"

 

[Gilbert Galindo]

On the morning of Sept. 12 my ex-wife played a sick joke on me. I got home from work at 4am and watched news coverage for about an hour before falling asleep. I was having some nightmares that morning and my ex-wife thinks she'll be a smart ass. At 7:30am, she puts on the reciever on MUTE and puts TOP GUN in the dvd player. She puts on an action scene and starts to blast the reciever on top volume, then UN MUTES IT. Then she starts screaming, "A plane is headed for us! Run Gilly, you're going to die!!" Ya know, shit like that. I wake up in a panic and find her laughing at me on the floor. I was pissed. I mean we live on the 72 floor. I couldn't go back to sleep after that. The bitch even woke up neighbors with that prank.

 

[Carl Johnson]

"A plane is headed for us! Run Gilly, you're going to die!!"

That is a sick joke, but far funnier than those silly white powder incidents

 

[KDHM]

I would report that Police officer to the FBI and ask for a follow-up on what happened, what if it was real someone would die because some Police Officer chose not to do his/her Job.
kd

 

[Kevin P]

On the morning of Sept. 12 my ex-wife played a sick joke on me.

Is that why she's your ex-wife now?
I have to admit that I'm wary of any powder-like substance I see now. But I'm not over-reacting to it, until/unless it seems suspicious.
KJP

 

[Brian Mansure]

Ryan,
Do you think if you screamed and acted all hysterical about the white powder in the baggie the local police would have treated the situation any differently?
I want to say that I don't agree with the way your local police handled the situation but they probably didn't treat the issue with high regard because you had already stated you didn't think it was anthrax and were fairly casual about the situation.
Regards,
Brian
[Edited last by Brian Mansure on November 02, 2001 at 08:38 AM]

 

[NathanP]

Remember the good ol' days when some people would be happy to find a baggie filled with white powder in the driveway?

Thats called marijuana (sp?).
Nathan

 

[Ryan Wright]

Do you think if you screamed and acted all hysterical about the white powder in the baggie the local police would have treated the situation any differently?
I want to say that I don't agree with the way your local police handled the situation but they probably didn't treat the issue with high regard because you had already stated you didn't think it was anthrax and were fairly casual about the situation.

That's certainly a possibility. One thing I found funny was, one of the officers (two actually came together in the same car) said, "Well, it doesn't look like anthrax. I mean, I have no idea what anthrax looks like, but I'm pretty sure this isn't it."

I guess I can see it from their point of view: How would they find the person who did it, short of taking fingerprints off the baggie? I don't see an effective way to trace something like that. Still, I expected a little more. I at least thought they'd take it with them for futher scrutiny.
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-Ryan (http://www.ryanwright.com )
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you do criticize them, you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.